Young but athletic. Those are the watchwords as Wright State’s women’s basketball team prepares for a new season.
Wright State posted one of its best seasons ever in 2010–11, winning 20 games for the first time as a Division I member and advancing to its first Division I postseason tournament. But the Raiders have lost five seniors from last season’s team, including LaShawna Thomas, a guard who set a school record for most points by a senior.
“We don’t have LaShawna to lean on at crunch time, so we will need to be a little more balanced on offense,” coach Mike Bradbury said. “We will be very young and inexperienced. With that said, our talent level and athleticism will be very good.”
The Raiders have reloaded with talent-ed recruits.
They include Katrina Blackmon, a 6-0 forward from Marion, Indiana, who averaged 20.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game her senior high school season; Kim Demmings, a 5-8 guard from Richmond, Indiana, who averaged 19.9 points and 10.2 rebounds; and Ciara Leak, a 5-6 guard who played the past two seasons at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Missouri, where she averaged 13.4 points.
“We have added depth, speed, and athleticism to an already talented class,” Bradbury said.
In Bradbury’s first season as head coach last year, the team finished 20-13 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitational before falling 75-73 to Manhattan. The appearance in the WBI was the first Division I postseason action ever for the Raiders. The 20 wins were the most for Wright State since moving up to Division I in 1987–88 and the second-most in school history.
Thomas was a First Team All-Horizon League selection and set the school record for most points by a senior, with 614. She finished second on Wright State’s all-time scoring list, with 1,653 points.
Besides Blackmon, Demmings and Leak, the Raiders have the following new players:
—Teonia McCune, a 6-5 center from Louisville, Kentucky, who averaged 16.1 points, 16.3 rebounds and ranks No. 4 all-time statewide in blocked shots, with 515.
—Mylan Woods, a 5-11 guard/forward from Strongsville, Ohio, who transferred to Wright State from Northwestern, where she appeared in eight games off the bench. Woods was the Ohio Division II Player of the Year in 2008–09 and 2009–10, averaging 15.4 points per game as a senior.
—Tayler Stanton, a 6-0 forward from Cincinnati Walnut Hills, competed last season at Kent State and finished second on the team in blocked shots, with 19.
—Breanna Stucke, a 6-0 guard/forward from Tipp City who averaged 12.4 points and 6.8 rebounds.
—Abby Jump, a 5-5 point guard from Florence, Kentucky, averaged 12.2 points, hit 72 three-pointers, and shot 81 percent from the foul line.
—Cierra Triplett, a 6-6 center from Dayton Carroll, averaged 8.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, and three blocks per game.
—Sarah Hunter, a 5-7 guard from Mason, Ohio, averaged eight points, 3.3 assists, and 2.3 steals.
